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True enough, nigrunze, but what he means is that since every Apple computer comes with OS X, each subsequent release of a new OS X version is essentially an upgrade to what you already have. You are correct though, that there's always ever only one version of an OS X release, and that's the full version!

My two cents here would be that OSX and Apple hardware sell each other because they are only sold with each other. The same goes for iLife and Apple computers. They sell each other because they only are sold with each other. Obviously, one can disagree with that point of view, but I think that's the perspective Apple has. That, along with the exclusivity of the Apple experience were chief reasons for my switch in 2002 after using Macs in college.
 
Yes, Apple will make Leopard available to all x86 hardware, after which they'll go out of business.
 
Ha! I remember the Mac clones very well. I had a PowerComputing box. It was ugly, but it ran OS 8 just fine.

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What you don't seem to realize is that "Mac clones" were not Mac clones at all--at least not in the same sense that a Compaq was an IBM clone. Compaqs used reverse-engineered BIOSes developed by third parties. They used no IBM intellectual property. Everything in a Mac clone that made it a Mac, however, was provided by Apple. Apple provided the software. Apple provided the Toolbox ROMs. Your PowerComputing box worked so well because it was a Mac in every way that mattered.
 
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